Here’s what you need: 

-kid-friendly scissors

-tape or glue (Chipper used double-sided tape!)

-three pieces of construction paper (one red, one green, one white)

-a green and black marker

-a paper plate

First, color the back of the paper plate green with a marker. (You can use a crayon, paint, or any other medium as well.)

Fold the paper plate in half. Draw and cut out four frog feet from green construction paper. Draw and cut out a tongue shape from red construction paper. Draw and cut out eyes from white paper. Attach to folded plate with tape or glue like so:

And voila! Here is a fun and cute paper plate frog.

Along with this craft, teach your child about frogs! Here are some fun frog facts:

-Frogs hibernate in the winter

-Instead of drinking water through their mouths, frogs absorb water through their skin!

-A group of frogs is called an “army”!

-Frogs can be found on every continent except for Antarctica

Also, you can do frog-jumps around the house/park/backyard to reiterate the importance of exercise to your little one! Here’s a fun video on various animal exercises:

Let’s Go Chipper for Frogs!

Take your little one(s) on a nature walk, strolling slowly in your back yard or community garden. Take 5 minutes in each area, observing things carefully, to see what you can find!  Keep a look out for lovely little ladybugs. Here are 10 fun facts about ladybugs to teach your kiddos:

1. Ladybugs are also called Lady beetles or Ladybirds.
2. The male ladybug is usually smaller than the female.
3. A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.
4. The spots on a ladybug fade, as the ladybug gets older.
5. In many countries, ladybugs are considered to be good luck.
6. Aphids are a ladybug’s favorite food, making them good for your garden.
7. There are over 5000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide.
8. A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.
9.  Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.
10. Ladybugs are all around us! Ladybugs can be found in trees, shrubs, fields, beaches, and even houses!

LADYBUG CRAFT

What you Need:

• Egg carton or round cardboard piece
• black and red markers, paint or crayons
• scissors or whole puncher
• Pipe cleaners
• Optional: googly eyes

Instructions:

• Separate one cup from an egg carton or use any round cardboard pieces you have on hand.
• Using markers or  paint to color the egg carton cup red. Then, using black paint/markers, color in the head, and make spots on the body.
• Using the point of a scissors or a hole puncher, an adult should make 6 small holes (3 on each side) at the base of the cup (these will be for the legs. Make 2 small holes (for antennae) where the top of the head will be.
• Insert a black pipe cleaner into each a side hole and out the other side for the legs. Use half a pipe cleaner for the antennae.
• Glue on googly eyes or paint on white eyes.
• Take your ladybug into the garden and try to spot some real ones!

LADYBUG SNACK

This Simple Recipe is Tasty and Cute!

Ingredients:
1-small red apple
2tsp.- strawberry cream cheese (low-fat)
1/8 cup- raisins or dried cranberries
1 or 2-red or black seedless grapes

Optional: lettuce leaves for garnish if desired.

Alternatives: peanut or almond butter instead of cream cheese. Round cereal instead of raisins, a small pinch of cinnamon. Use your imagination and what you have on hand in the kitchen.

Directions:
Wash the apples and lettuce. Arrange a few lettuce leaves on each plate. Cut apples in half from stem to bottom. Remove seeds. Lay each half of apple cut side down on
cutting board and cut in half from stem to bottom. With skin side up place both halves of apple on top of lettuce. Put a small amount of cream cheese in-between the apple
halves to adhere the apple back together (enough to have a small amount squish out the top). Stick raisins to cream cheese down the middle of apple, then use a small dab of cream cheese to adhere the raisins (see picture below) on each wing. Cut a grape in half and use cream cheese to stick it to one end of your ladybug apple for the head.

This is a perfect recipe for adults and kids to make together. It’s fun, easy, cute, and so tasty. And did Chipper mention it’s healthy too? “Healthy before sweet, can’t be beat!”

1. Hula Hooping

Hula hoops became a hot toy in the late 1950s and are still a lot of fun for families. Hula hooping can burn more than 500 calories an hour — not bad for a $10 piece of plastic! Hoops come in a variety of sizes for children and adults, and weighted hoops for more advanced “hoopers” will give you even more of a workout. Try a little more variation than just the normal standing hula hooping with these 3 Great Hula Hoop Exercises for Kids.

2. Jump Roping

Jumping rope burns an estimated 600 calories an hour. Jump ropes are also cheap, starting under $10. Also, because jump ropes are so portable, parents can pack one in their suitcase for workouts while they travel. Who knows — maybe Dad is a future double dutch champion!

3. Skating and Scooting

Have some old Rollerblades or Razor Scooters hanging out in the garage? You probably forgot how fun some quality time on wheels can be! Dust them off and cruise around the neighborhood or a nearby park with your kids. Kicking along on a scooter is sure to get your heart rate up. And in-line skating burns at least 300 calories an hour for adults. Consider doing a scavenger hunt to keep you moving.

4. Boogying Down

Your family loves singing along with the radio in the car. Why not dance along to the music when you’re at home? Having a family dance party lets parents and kids get silly while also getting some good cardio exercise. Hip hop dancing can burn about 400 calories an hour, so turn up the beats indoors or outside!

5. Playing Frisbee

Frisbee has a cult following, with hundreds of colleges now offering “ultimate Frisbee” (a Frisbee game similar to soccer) as a school sport. Your family could be full of Frisbee champs! With plastic discs starting at $5, it’s worth a try. Frisbee golf is another fun disc game.

6. Walking — or Hiking — with the Dog

What has fur, four legs, and is dying to be your exercise pal? That’s right: the family dog. Studies have shown that owning a dog can make you healthier, in part because you’re likely to take more walks. But if your daily walks have become more like a chore, infuse some fun as well as fitness. Go as a family, pick different routes each night, and throw in some jogging.

7. Playground Playtime

Just as kids love rec time during the school day, they’ll enjoy romping around the playground when school is out of session. When is the last time Dad tried his hand at crossing the monkey bars or doing some pull-ups? And when was Mom last on the swings, pumping her legs to get sky-high? Playgrounds offer fun physical activity for everyone — even if you’re just chasing the kids around.

8. Tag, You’re It, and Other Outdoor Games

Tag, kickball, wiffle ball, kickball… you name it! Neighborhood games may be waning in the digital age, but they’re as fun as ever and hopefully due for a comeback. Challenge your family members to some friendly competition, and enjoy the great outdoors like it’s the good ol’ days. Here are some great ideas from Chipper!

Chipper knows how important it is to get your little one to get into the habit of brushing their teeth at an early age!

Squirrels’ teeth grow very fast so they need to constantly sharpen and shorten them!  To trim their long teeth and to keep healthy, squirrels like Chipper chew on hard things like twigs. Here’s a video of a squirrel at UCLA sharpening its teeth:

Like squirrels, we need to keep our teeth healthy! We’ve all heard it from all of our dentists: “You need to floss more!” or “Don’t forget to brush the very back of your molars!” Most of us don’t worry about their warnings until the day before our next dental visit. The worst that can happen is that we get a little cavity, and, they just fix it with a silver cap, right? But, it turns out, bad dental hygiene isn’t just bad for your teeth, it’s also bad for your general health! The infographic below lists 14 bad-dental-hygiene ailments that plague everyday people just like you and me. Poor oral hygiene can lead to heart disease, respiratory disease, and even brain abscesses! Preventative medicine is the best medicine, so please, listen to your dentist and floss your teeth and brush all the way to the back of your molars! Your body will thank you!

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, here is one of Chipper‘s favorite Mexican recipes: Chicken Tortilla Soup!

Here’s what you need to make 8 servings:

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup white hominy
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped green onions

Directions:

1. First, in a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, and chopped green onion.

Enjoy!

Did you know that chicken is a very good source of protein? A serving of 4 ounces of chicken provides 67.6% of the daily value for protein.  In addition, the leanest part of a chicken is the chicken breast, which is half the fat of a trimmed Choice grade T-bone steak. However, eating the chicken with the skin doubles the amount of fat you consume. So, if you’re trying to cut down on fat, cut the skin! Chicken is also an excellent source of niacin, which is a cancer-protective vitamin. Read more about chicken and its health benefits here!

Let’s Go Chipper for Cinco de Mayo and healthy eating!

This week, Chipper created flower prints from celery. It is an easy craft that can be created with materials that are lying around at home. All you need is: celery, a knife, paint, and a piece of paper! Here’s how:

First, take your bunch of celery and cut off the bottom.

Then, dip the bottom portion of the celery stalk in to paint and stamp away! Chipper used red paint.

The celery stalk ends up creating these fun, flower shaped objects.

Here’s Chipper‘s end product.

Chipper cut up the rest of the celery stalk and enjoyed it with some peanut butter.

According to an article by Harvard Health Publications, peanut butter has fiber, vitamins, and mineras, among other nutrients. Unsalted peanut butter contains a terrific potassium-to-sodium ratio, which “counters the harmful cardiovascular effects of sodium surplus….even salted peanut butter still has about twice as much potassium as sodium.” In addition, many research studies have concluded that people who “regularly include nuts or peanut butter in their diets are less likely to develop heart disease or type 2 diabetes than those who rarely eat nuts.”

With this craft and snack, teach your child the importance of being creative and snacking right all at the same time!

Let’s Go Chipper for creativity and healthy snacking!

Japan – Greening Week

Isreal – The New Years Day of Trees

Korea – The Tree Loving Week

Yugoslavia – The Reforestation Week

Iceland – The Students’ Afforestation Day

India – The National Festival of Tree Planting

In celebration of Arbor Day, Chipper made a coffee sleeve tree recycle-craft this week! This craft is simple, eco-friendly, and even incorporates the theme of trees for Arbor Day!

Here’s what you need:

First, cut the coffee sleeves open and cut pieces to create a trunk. Cut the green coffee sleeves open and cut leaf shapes. If you don’t have green coffee sleeves, just use marker, paint, or crayon to color your coffee sleeves green!

Then, place glue (or tape!) down the center of your piece of construction paper like so:

Place the pieces down like so:

And there you have it–a fun and simple tree craft for Arbor Day! After creating this craft, spend some time with your little one discussing trees. Did you know that trees help keep our soil healthy by minimizing soil erosion? Or  that there are over 23,000 kinds of trees on Earth? Click here to read and learn more about trees!

Let’s Go Chipper for Arbor Day!

(Chipper got the idea for this craft from this blog.)

In celebration of the upcoming Earth Day, Chipper made an Earth Day craft this week! Not only is this craft simple, it will teach your little one about the importance of loving our planet.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Firstly, draw a circle on blue construction paper and cut it out. This will be the water of planet Earth.

Secondly, cut out arbitrary land-like shapes out of green construction paper and glue (or tape) them onto the blue circle. Your planet Earth is starting to take shape!

Then, place your hands into a heart like shape like so. Trace your hands and cut them out.

It will end up looking like this:

Using glue or tape, adhere your hands onto your already-made Earth. Voila! This craft symbolizes the importance of using your hands in activity to love on the environment around us.

Optional: Using red marker, draw a heart in the middle like so. This could further solidify the link between using hands to actively take care of Mother Earth.

Let’s Go Chipper for Earth Day!

May you always have
Love to Share,
Health to Spare,
And Friends that Care!

Here are the REAL life animal friends that remind Chipper of the Disney Classic, Bambi. In the beginning of this heart-felt film, Thumper and Bambi become quick friends and help each other grow and build confidence.

Pictures taken by Tanja Askani. What an amazing photographer to have caught these shots!

“Eating greens is a special treat, It makes long ears and great big feet.” -Thumper

Friends are there to support us during hard times and laugh with us during the easy ones. For example, when Bambi’s mother gets killed by a hunter or when Thumper meets a young female rabbit (ironically called a doe), the two unlikely friends stick together and help each other through it all. No matter where you come from, how you grow up, or what you look like, friendships can be made in the most unlikely places and can last a lifetime.

Although from two completely different species, Rabbits and Deer have more in common than most of us realize! Both are mammals and are indigenous or over time have been introduced to most regions of the world.

“If you can’t say something nice… don’t say nothing at all.” – Thumper

Both animals are great jumpers and can easily out run most predators unless taken unaware.

Both rabbits and deers are herbivores and they are also a huge source of meat for humans and animal carnivores alike.

Kiss on the head!

Similarly to deer, male rabbits are called bucks and females are called does. Baby rabbits are called kittens though (who knew?) while baby deer are usually called fawns.

Sun Bathing!

Rabbits and Deer both live in groups (called a ‘herd’ when a group of deer) and when they are eating one stands guard (usually the buck for deer); if danger is sensed the guard signal to the others to run away. To spot deer or rabbits, they are usually out and about to feed at dusk and dawn.

Eskimo Kiss!

Various cultures view each of these adorable creature differently. China raises more rabbits for food than any other country where as the United States primarily raises rabbits for pets and medical research. Deer are hunted all over the world and commonly seen as a nuisance to gardens and crops (same as Rabbits) but deer have also been a sacred and holy symbol in a number of cultures and religions. Learn more about deer in mythology.

Bath time!

DID YOU KNOW that Deer are the only animals that have antlers? They are the fastest growing living tissue on earth! Antlers are usually only found on males, but in some species, like caribou, you will also find them on females too. Moose have the largest antlers. Antlers grow from spring until fall. While growing, antlers are covered with a soft tissue known as velvet. This tissue contains a network of nerves and blood vessels and is very sensitive. In the fall, the velvet is shed and the antlers harden. In the winter, the antlers are shed. Antlers should not be confused with horns. Horns are never shed and continue to grow throughout the animal’s life. If they are broken, they won’t grow back!

Sleepy time!

Meet Chipper’s Rabbit and Deer friends! Daffodil is a white-tailed doe, , the smallest members of the North American deer family, and Jasper is a Jack Rabbit, who is actually a hare, not a rabbit. Hares are larger than rabbits, and they typically have taller hind legs and longer ears. These two friends both are from North America and like to stay with the warm weather.

Daffodil and Jasper

When was the last time YOU saw a deer or a rabbit? What time was it? Where were you? Share with Chipper!